Hemma creates fresh, elegant collections using authentic hand-woven Kente, a textile rich in African royal tradition. Kente began to flourish in West Africa in the 17th century and still remains prominent representing social prestige, luxury, and cultural sophistication. Each garment is uniquely handmade from intricately hand-woven Kente imported from Ghana. By incorporating the same techniques used to dress Ghanaian nobility for centuries, Hemma allows each client to exude royalty. By investing in quality pieces that last a lifetime, the lives of Ghanaian school children are also impacted. A percentage of all proceeds will be donated to a West African middle school where the designers instructed classes.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Oh Kumasi!

So I am on my way to purchase the fabric for the line at the kente village in Kumasi, assuming everything will go according to plan....which most likely doesn’t happen in Ghana! Of course the bus breaks down only a quarter of the way there! So we were stuck waiting for a new bus to arrive from Accra for 4 hours!! I made friends with two elderly men, one who was on the way to see his 107 year old mom! He takes the trip every month and cherishes each one as he knows she will not be with him for much longer. So I finally made it to Kumasi with a grand total of 8.5 hours on the bus and ended up sleeping there and buying the kente a day later than planned. I spent the whole day in the kente village going from vendor to vendor trying to purchase enough for the initial line. Since the road was so dusty on the way there and we were out in the sun all day the only thing I wanted to do when I got back home was take a shower! When I arrived back to Accra by 11:30pm I turned on the shower and nothing came out! No water..damn...guess there’s always tomorrow....

No comments:

Post a Comment